Extensible wheeled toy



July 22, 1969 B. KINBERG 3,456,381

EXTENSIBLE WHEELED TOY Filed June 13, 1968 INVENTOR BENJAMIN KINBERG U nitcd States Patent Ofice 3,456,381 Patented July 22, 1969 3,456,381 EXTENSIBLE WHEELED TOY Benjamin Kinherg, 425 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10027 Filed June 13, 1968, Ser. No. 736,762 Int. Cl. A63h 11/10 US. Cl. 46-104 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An extensible wheeled toy simulating a ground traveling creature having telescopically arranged head and tail sections wherein a mechanism driven by a ground engaging wheel causes the sections to be extended and retracted as the toy is pulled along the ground whereby the creature appears to wriggle.

Background of the invention Heretofore, extensible Wheeled toys of the above type have been devised but were found to be unsatisfactory for one reason or the other.

Summary of the invention Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved mechanism for operating an extensible wheeled toy simulating a ground traveling creature.

Another object is to provide such a mechanism which can be built into various kinds of ground traveling creatures such as caterpillars and the like.

A further object is to provide such a mechanism which is simple and economical in construction and is fascinating in operation.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accoidance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing a mechanism which comprises a head section and a tail section telescopically slidable with respect to each other and each having a fixed element therein, a ground engaging wheel within one of the sections, means for rotatably mounting the wheel in such section, a pair of diametrically opposite crank arms mounted for rotation with the wheel, a rod connecting one of the crank arms to one of the fixed elements, and a rod connecting the other of the crank arms to the other of the fixed elements.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a side elevational view illustrating a wheeled toy simulating a caterpillar.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 on FIG. 1 illustrating mechanism for operating the toy.

FIG. 3 is a stepped sectional view taken along the line 3--3 on FIG. 2.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown an extensible wheeled toy simulating a caterpillar which generally comprises a head section 10, a tail section 11 telescopically slidable in the head section, and mechanism for extending and retracting the sections with respect to each other indicated by the reference numeral 12 and mounted on a base 14.

The head section is slidably mounted on the base 14 by a tongue and groove arranged 15-16 at each side of the base. The head section has a fixed element therein such as a wall 17, and the tail section has a fixed element therein such as a wall 18. The purpose of these walls Will be described hereinafter.

The mechanism 12 comprises a pair of spaced apart upright frame members 19 mounted on the base 14, a ground engaging wheel 20 between the frame members fixed on a shaft 21 journalled for rotation in the frame members and extending outwardly thereof, the wheel having a portion thereof extending downwardly through a longitudinal slot 22 in the base, a crank arm 24 fixed on one end of the shaft, a crank 25 fixed on the other end of the shaft, the crank arms extending in diametrically opposite directions, a rod or link 26 pivotally connected at one end to the crank arm 24 and pivotally connected at its other end to the wall 17 at 27, and a rod 28 or link pivotally connected at one end to the crank arm 25 and pivotally connected at its other end to the Wall 18 at 29.

The tail section 11 is slidably mounted on the base 14 by a tongue and groove arrangement 30 within the head section 10 (FIG. 2).

When the toy is drawn across the ground in the direction indicated by the arrow 31 (FIG. 3), by means of a flexible cord 32 attached to the head end of base 14 the wheel 20 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction and so will the crank arms 24 and 25. This causes the rod 26 to pull the head section 10 towards the right and causes the rod 27 to pull the tail section 11 towards the left, as viewed in FIG. 3 whereby the head and tail sections are retracted. After the wheel has been rotated from the position shown in FIG. 3 maximum retraction is accomplished. As the wheel continues to rotate, the rod 26 pushes the head section 10 towards the left and the rod 27 pushes the tail section 11 towards the right, as viewed in FIG. 3, whereby the head and tail sections are extended. After the wheel has been rotated 270 from the position shown in FIG. 3, maximum extension is accomplished.

Thus, during each revolution of the wheel 20, the head and tail sections are fully retracted and extended at a rapid rate and for a considerable distance. This fast action makes the creature appear to wriggle as it moves across the ground.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved and highly entertainin g wheeled toy.

I claim:

1. An extensible wheeled toy resembling a ground traveling creature, which toy comprises a generally rectangular oblong base having a slot therein extending lengthwise between the longer sides of said base at about the middle of said base, a hollow head section and a hollow tail section telescopically slidable with respect to each other and each having a fixed element therein, tongue and groove means at the longer sides of said base, said means slidably mounting said head section and said tail section upon said base, a ground engaging wheel rotatably mounted upon said base within said sections and having a portion extending downwardly through said slot, a pair of diametrically opposite crank arms at opposite sides of said wheel mounted for rotation with said wheel, a rod connecting one of said crank arms to one of fixed elements, a rod connecting the other of said crank arms to the other of said fixed elements, and a flexible cord connected to the head end of said base for drawing the toy across the ground, whereby both of said sections at all times are slidably reciprocated simultaneously in opposite directions on said base.

(References on following page) 3 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,035,308 3/1936 Ferber 46-104 XR 2,232,615 2/1941 Kopka 46-104 2,471,722 5/1949 Campbell 46-104 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner H. DINITZ, Assistant Examiner 

